Director of Photography Department of Huayu

Chapter 341 A Great Start? Or Making History?
As the last stretch Lincoln slowly drove away from the end of the red carpet, the emcee's voice echoed in the headphones:
Ladies and gentlemen, with the arrival of our last guest, the 80th Academy Awards ceremony will begin in a few minutes.

The live stream transitioned smoothly to the interior of the Kodak Theater.

Beneath the high dome, crystal chandeliers hung like stars, the theater's giant curtain slowly closed, and trailers for the shortlisted films played on a projection screen in front of the main stage.

Hundreds of gilded seats were scattered throughout the venue, and the media section was brightly lit. The venue was already packed.

Wu Chen and Liu Yifei had already taken their seats according to their assigned numbers, guided by the concierge.

Wu Chen was seated in the front row, slightly to the left, with Liu Yifei to his right. Behind them, in the two rows, were Han Sanping, Wang Changtian, Li Qin, and others.

Xiang Zhuo and the others were in the guest seats at the back.

Wu Chen didn't see many familiar faces this year. James McAvoy, the star of "Now You See Me," and Cate Blanchett both bumped into Wu Chen and greeted him.

The former was the presenter of this year's original adaptation award, while the latter was one of the Best Actress nominees, sitting not far from Liu Yifei.

Wu Chen simply greeted Helen Mirren, the previous Best Actress winner.

"It's a pity I'm presenting the Best Actor award, so I can't present it to you in person. Congratulations in advance!" Helen Mirren smiled and shook hands with Wu Chen and Liu Yifei.

Just a short while later, the lights suddenly dimmed, and the entire place fell silent.

As the curtain rose, host Jon Stewart, dressed in a meticulously tailored dark gray tuxedo, stepped onto the stage.

Good evening, everyone! Welcome to the 80th Academy Awards.

We've finally waited for this! Yes, after a strike, two nomination controversies, and three protest statements, we can finally trick everyone into wearing formal attire today!

The audience burst into laughter.

"We have a lot of highlights tonight, such as an independent director who made a film about racial fears, who suddenly made a film about unique Chinese culture and was nominated for Best Director. He's a young man, even younger than me! It's unforgivable that he's younger than me!"

When Stuart teased Wu Chen, he nodded in the direction of the film crew: "Wu started out making thrillers. I guarantee that even if he doesn't win an award tonight, he'll still scare us out of our wits."

The audience burst into laughter again.

The camera immediately switched to Wu Chen, who smiled and shook his head.

At the same time, the live broadcast was simultaneously conducted globally.

In Beijing, CCTV's movie channel is switching angles to show Yao Miao hosting a program recording.

Meanwhile, in the Sina Entertainment chat room, Gu Yu, Zhang Yibai, Liu Fan, Bi Chenggong, and others continued to sit in front of the screen and comment.

The stage lights dimmed, and the camera focused on the side of the main stage. As the music began, the first group of award presenters slowly walked onto the stage.

Jennifer Garner, dressed in a silver-white high-slit gown, walked gracefully to the microphone under the theater's dome, smiling as she looked at the entire audience.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 80th Academy Awards. We are about to present the first award of the evening: Best Costume Design."

"There's not much to discuss here." In the Sina chat room, Gu Yu smiled and looked at the guests. "Do you gentlemen think that 'Black Peony' has a chance of winning the third award later, its first nomination for 'Best Makeup'?"

“Director Wu’s ‘Black Peony’ has a well-planned nomination strategy, with awards coming in at different stages,” Zhang Yibai said slowly, crossing his legs. “But to be honest, I think it would be better if it didn’t win this award.”

"Director Zhang, why?" Liu Fan was slightly taken aback.

"Think about it, if you win an award right away, it will bring a sense of 'complete success' and the audience and media will unconsciously lower their expectations for the big prizes later."

“I don’t quite agree.” Bi Chenggong laughed. “While that’s true, a good start is a kind of momentum, isn’t it? Besides, this is a makeup award, which doesn’t conflict with the other ‘main awards’. Winning it will boost the morale of the crew.”

In the live stream, the comments from netizens became extremely excited as the group discussed the topic.

"Hoping for a good omen! Even a small prize!"

"I bet a barbecue that 'Black Peony' will have a great start!"

"Pirates of the Caribbean 3 isn't bad either, it's hard to say. By the way, I just checked why there are only three nominees for Best Makeup, why not five?"

Meanwhile, many places across the country were watching the live broadcast of today's awards ceremony, especially the Beijing Film Academy, which was undoubtedly following the entire event closely.

Wu Chen and Liu Yifei were also watching out of boredom when Liu Yifei's face suddenly turned slightly red. Seeing Wu Chen playfully scratching her palm, she couldn't help but pinch Wu Chen's arm.

"What are you doing? Focus on the awards ceremony."

"This is so boring, it's not our turn yet!" Wu Chen replied with a smile, unconcerned.

Inside the theater, with the Costume Design Award going to "Elizabeth 2: The Golden Age" and the Best Animated Feature Film Award to "Ratatouille," the first award for "Black Peony" was finally about to be revealed.

The stage lights changed, and Katherine Heigl appeared on stage in a light purple fishtail gown, holding a gold envelope in her hand.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the next award to be presented is the Best Makeup and Hair Design Award."

She smiled slightly and raised her voice: "The nominated films are: La Vie en Rose, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, and Black Peony."

Inside the chat room, Gu Yu glanced at the questions in the discussion area on the screen:

"Dear teachers, I've seen some netizens asking why there are only three nominees for Best Makeup this year, when there are usually five?"

"Haha, it seems that no one is paying much attention to this award."

At this moment, not only was Zhang Yibai explaining to netizens, but Wu Chen was also answering Liu Yifei's questions.

"In fact, the Best Makeup Award has only ever had a maximum of three nominations since its inception, unlike other awards. The nominations are selected by members of the Makeup and Hair Design branch from the 'candidate list' through voting."

Because makeup and hairstyling have highly specialized and focused technical requirements and evaluation criteria, the number of nominated films is usually small. Setting five nominations would actually dilute the overall quality and lower the prestige of the field.

Wu Chen explained to Liu Yifei that the rule was actually changed back to five nominations more than a decade later, but few people paid attention to such minor awards, so not many people knew about them.

"Doesn't that mean it's also very prestigious?" Liu Yifei's eyes widened as she watched the award presenter, Katherine Heigl, prepare to announce the winner.

“It’s certainly not bad for this field.” Wu Chen nodded.

"A great start! A great start!" were the comments in the live stream chat rooms across China.

"La Vie en Rose!"

As Katherine Heigl read out the winner's name, the crew members all felt a little disappointed.

"It's okay, the small prize isn't important, it's not important!" "Yes, yes, the big prize is more important, let's give it to that!"

The comments in the chat room quickly turned into lighthearted banter, without much fluctuation. After all, no matter how prestigious the award, it's still just a small prize for the film.

Inside the Kodak Theatre, the golden stage continued to shine, marking the splendid chapter of the ceremony.

After presenting awards for Best Visual Effects, Art Direction, Animated Short Film, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay, the awards ceremony briefly transitioned into a ceremonial segment.

Nicole Kidman stepped onto the stage and gracefully introduced the recipients of this year's Honorary Oscars to the audience both in the studio and watching on television worldwide:
Robert Boyle, a master art director who worked on more than sixty films throughout his life.

Clips of his work during his lifetime flashed across the screen: "The Birds," "North by Northwest," and "True Grit."
At this time, the capital city was gradually entering midday.

Inside the live broadcast studio of the movie channel, host Yao Miao, dressed in formal attire, sat in the broadcast booth under stage-like lighting, her tone calm and composed:

"What we are seeing now is the middle segment of the 80th Academy Awards, the 'Honorary Awards' established by the Academy to recognize behind-the-scenes artists who have made outstanding contributions to the art of film."
We will soon be welcoming one of the most anticipated awards of this year's competition in China: Best Foreign Language Film.

"Black Peony" will be competing for this prestigious award. We will bring you live feedback shortly.

Meanwhile, the screen in Sina Entertainment's chat room was also rapidly moving forward.

In the video, Gu Yu holds up a cue card and smiles:
"Finally, the first major nomination for 'Black Peony' is about to be announced: Best Foreign Language Film."

He turned to the guests at the table and said, "Gentlemen, we have a few minutes left, why don't we make a prediction? Who do you all support?"

Zhang Yibai was the first to laugh out loud: "I support Director Wu Chen, is there even a need to ask?"

“Me too, I definitely support ‘Black Peony’ for both emotional and logical reasons!” Liu Fan replied with a big laugh.

"I don't even want to do multiple-choice questions anymore," Bi Chenggong said, shrugging.

Many viewers who left midway through the show also gathered in the chat room, making the comments section much livelier again:

"Professor Bi Chenggong, stop pretending! Your analysis was the most intense just now!"

"Unanimous opinion: Wu Chen, go for it!"

"Anyone who opposes this is a traitor!"

"."

"Alright, alright, let's get back to reality." Gu Yu smiled, calming the atmosphere and steer the conversation, "The nominated works each have their own unique characteristics. We can make a prediction based on this, excluding Director Wu's 'Black Peony'."

Zhang Yibai spoke first, tapping his fingers lightly on the table:
"I've actually studied this year's foreign language films."

First, the proportion of Jewish filmmakers is very high, and two of the shortlisted films come from this cultural background: the Israeli film "Beaufort" and the Austrian film "The Counterfeiters".

Kazakhstan, the country that produced "Mongol," has an advantage in terms of sympathy votes for "Borat," provided there are any. However, the invincible Mongol cavalry might awaken the "Yellow Peril" in the minds of Western judges.
If I had to exclude "Black Peony," I might choose "Beaufort."

“I disagree with that. If you look at it that way, I’m actually more optimistic about ‘The Counterfeiters’,” Bi Chenggong added. “Although ‘Beaufort’ is ‘home turf’ in this segment where Jewish members are concentrated, unfortunately, its own quality is a bit lacking. I think it’s just average.”

Several people had different opinions, and the chat room comments became increasingly heated:
"Holy crap, their explanations are more complicated than my college entrance exam essay!"

Never mind that, keep going, Chinese films!

"To be honest, after this analysis, I'm really worried that 'Black Peony' will lose to 'The Counterfeiters'."

Meanwhile, in several screening rooms at the Beijing Film Academy, the discussions gradually subsided as everyone watched Penelope Cruz, the award presenter, go on stage to announce the nominees.

"Chairman Han, do you think the chances are good?" Wang Changtian asked from the side inside the theater, also looking somewhat nervous.

If they were to take it, it would be a historic moment for mainland China.

"It's hard to say, the competition is fierce this year."

Han Sanping leaned back in his chair and shook his head. Although he really hoped to win the Best Foreign Language Film award, there were so many great talents in this year's Best Foreign Language Film competition, each with their own unique skills.

In the front row of the theater, Liu Yifei held Wu Chen's fingers, her palm slightly cool.

"Don't be nervous, don't be nervous," she murmured to herself.

Wu Chen glanced at her and couldn't help but chuckle.

He gripped her hand tightly in return and whispered in her ear, "Don't be afraid, if it doesn't work the first time, we'll try again."

As soon as she finished speaking, Penelope Cruz, dressed in a dark red gown, stepped onto the stage, holding an envelope that read "Best Foreign Language Film".

The following are the films nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at this year's Academy Awards:

"Beaufort, Israel".

"12 Angry Men (Russian Version), Russia."

"The Mongol King, Kazakhstan".

"The Counterfeiters," Austria.

The large screen then flashed one by one, each scene switching accompanied by moments of different countries, different languages, and different fates.

"Black Peony, China".

A still frame of black and white Kunqu Opera makeup appeared on the stage screen. Xu Wei, in flowing sleeves, gazed at herself in the mirror with eyes that were like the person in the mirror or the soul in a dream, instantly captivating the audience.

A member of the audience let out a soft "oh," a surprised sound that came from being quietly struck by an unfamiliar beauty.

Penelope lowered her eyes, opened the envelope, took out the gold card, took a light breath, and smiled slightly:
The 80th Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film was awarded to…

Her fingertips paused slightly, and her tone unconsciously lengthened as thousands of people in the audience held their breath in anticipation.

"Read it quickly, I'm dying to hear it!"

"Brother, don't rush. I know you're anxious, but don't rush right now!"

In front of the live stream, countless netizens complained, their suspenseful tone making them feel extremely anxious.

Penelope smiled as she read out the name that countless people had been waiting for:
"Black Peony, China!"

(End of this chapter)